Today's Paper
» SPORT

Bengal names Ranji Trophy squad

KOLKATA: The senior selection committee of the Cricket Association of Bengal headed by Sambaran Banerjee, on Wednesday, named the Ranji Trophy squad against Maharashtra to be played at Pune from November 3 to 6.

The composition clearly suggests that the selectors have decided to stick to tried and tested players under the captaincy of Laxmi Ratan Shukla. The captain and other 14 members have been named only for the first game.

Under Shukla, Bengal was relegated to the Plate Division two seasons back and it was only last season that the side had qualified to play in the Elite division.

The new season began disastrously for Bengal; the side fared badly in two pre-season tournaments, the Moin-ud-Dowla tournament in Hyderabad and the Atray Memorial tournament in Chandigarh.

The team’s tale of woe continued when it finished last but one in the East Zone leg of the National T20 tournament at Dhanbad recently thus putting tremendous pressure on the new coach Roger Binny.

The selection meeting was held on Tuesday and after lack of consensus among the four selectors on a couple of senior players had forced the CAB president, Jagmohan Dalmiya, to reconvene the meeting on Wednesday which decided to include the two senior players.

The entire team, including the captain, has been put on notice to perform or perish.